Meal planning
is the act of advanced planning of the menu for different situations such as for a family or a restaurant. It is important to consider the dietary needs of the people one is preparing for. Beginner cooks may find the task too daunting at first, but luckily there are wide range of resources on line to help with the planning process.
Meal planning is the organization of deciding what meals you will be eating ahead of time. It can be a great way to make sure you have healthy meals planned without you having to scramble to make a decision.
What I love about this particular design--
1) It’s weekly. I shop and plan my calendar weekly. I can adjust for company, evenings out, leftovers, etc.
2) Ingredients are listed on the back of the meal cards which measure 1 ½ by 4 ¼ inches. Hello shopping list! Sources such as recipe card, cookbook and page number, or binder are also noted.
3) Using the two pockets (made from 16 count crayon boxes,) I can store all of my meal cards right on the board. With a rotating system, I start with all the cards in the lower box. After we have a particular meal, I place its card into the upper box until we go through the majority of the cards. Then, I start over choosing from all of them again.
4) Clothespins mean no slipping of the laminated meal cards and no pin holes.
5) The base is an 11×14” picture frame, so it’s a cinch to hang. Using two nails keeps the board from tilting under its lopsided weight.
A one week sample of what I am currently serving along with a few favorite recipes. However, I want to share what I think will be even more valuable—not what I serve, but how I go about planning it. The key is themes! Assigning a different theme to each day of the week helpfully narrows your focus as you plan. It also ensures that you have a nice variety of foods without similar repeats during the week. A different color of card stock for each theme’s meal cards makes choosing meals for the week even easier. The key to having themes that will work for you is to choose themes that go along with what your family already eats on a regular basis. I suggest brainstorming and writing down all the meals you regularly serve (or even keep track for a month as you go.) Then, look at your list and see what types of themes are already represented. Eat a lot of fish? (Me neither, ha.) If you do, you could have “Seafood Night” or “Under the Sea.” Do you have several pasta dishes? “Pasta Night” or “Mambo Italiano” might work well. Love to try new recipes? Assign a day to do that. The recipes that you try and love can be added to the rotation of another night. Do you typically have leftovers? Make it a theme. Some people plan by what type of meat they serve– chicken, beef, pork. It can be that simple. The important thing is to choose themes that will work for you and your family. After you identify your themes, try to come up with 4-5 different meals per theme. This is going to take time. It is an investment that will eliminate hours of busy work and stress once you get your themes and meals into place.
When you assign your themes to the day of the week, think about your family’s typical schedule. For example, a crock pot meal is perfect for my family on Sundays because I can start it before we leave for church, and we get to come home (starving) to something good to eat. Plan simple, quick things on the nights you know your time to prepare will be limited. Does hubby work late every Tuesday? Make it “Kids Stuff” Tuesday. You get the idea.
What I love about The Ultimate Menu Board is that it is super flexible. Let’s say I notice mid-week that we have plenty of leftovers to feed the family for one day. I can slip the “leftover” card on top of Friday’s meal and just plan on doing the original meal the next week. And it’s not a problem to make a change. I can flip flop nights if I want. Life happens and it always threatened my carefully planned and printed “monthly menu.” No more. Want to add something new to the rotation? Simply make an additional card.
If you still need a little inspiration, perhaps the following examples will help you get started. One Week Meal Plan
Monday- lasagna, garden salad, French bread (wheat)
Tuesday- grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup (or ramen or ravioli)
Wednesday- garlic chicken, roasted zucchini, pineapple and cottage cheese
Thursday- burritos, corn, tortilla chips
Friday- party chicken, baked potatoes, honey mustard salad
Saturday- eat out
Sunday- mushroom and onion pork chops, brown rice, mixed veggies, rolls
Mom’s Lasagna-
Make sauce mixture using 1 lb browned ground beef, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can cheddar cheese soup, 15 oz tomato sauce, 1 T Italian seasoning and 1 tsp onion salt.
In a 9×13 pan, layer boiled noodles (9 in all,) sauce mixture and shredded mozzarella cheese three times.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches-
For an extra special sandwich use sourdough bread, three cheeses (a spread of cream cheese, a slice of American, a slice of provolone,) and slices of tomato and red onion.
Ella’s Honey Mustard Salad-
Combine lettuce, chopped apple, red onion, shredded cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds and bacon bits. Top with your favorite honey mustard dressing.
Happy planning, shopping, cooking and eating!
http://thecreativemama.com/the-end-of-reinventing-the-meal-menu-planning-and-the-ultimate-menu-board/
Effective menu planning is rewarding in terms of time and money, especially given how little effort it takes. Those who do it well seem to have internalized its rules. The good news: The rest of us can learn, too. We asked three food experts to share their menu-planning strategies―from shopping savvy to using ingredients wisely. Here are their tips for success.
1. Resolve to make the effort. As with any goal―losing weight, exercising, or eating healthier―the first step is making a commitment, says Susan Nicholson, who writes the syndicated newspaper column 7 Day Menu Planner. Just decide you’re going to do it. Involve those who eat with you by asking what they do and don’t like to eat―even kids as young as five or six can be included―then factor their preferences into your plans.
2. Pick a planning style to suit your personality. “I love the ‘cook once, eat twice’ strategy,” says Ellie Krieger, RD, host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network and author of The Food You Crave.
“I plan my weekly meals by first deciding what three major proteins I’m going to eat, then I make them do double duty. If I buy a rotisserie chicken, I prepare a salad one night and chicken tacos the next. If I’m making roasted pork loin with veggies on Monday, I may use the leftover for pulled-pork sandwiches Wednesday night.”
Nicholson maps out four weeks of menus on a calendar or grid. For each day, she lists an entrée, sides, and dessert, making sure to mark out days she routinely eats away from home. “Most of us have at least 10 favorite meals. If you’re a beginner, it’s simple to fill in those 10, then repeat them until the grid is full.” When you’re ready, begin adding new recipes or tweak your menu to keep things fresh.
3. Make a shopping list. Keep a generic list on hand that includes things you buy frequently (such as milk, eggs, chicken breasts), then add extras so you don’t have to start from scratch each week, Nicholson says. She puts a shopping-list template on her computer and arranges ingredients in sections corresponding with the layout of her favorite supermarket to make shopping easier.
4. Shop strategically. “Shop on a day that works best for you,” says Toni Lydecker, author of Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You’re on Your Own. Consider your market’s schedule by asking when it receives fresh shipments from vendors. Be flexible with your list, too: If you’re planning to cook asparagus one night but the green beans look better, go with the beans.
5. Cook perishables first. “Cook with perishables like fresh fish or salad greens early in the week,” Lydecker says. “Then later you can rely on staples: a simple omelet or pasta dish.”
Krieger likes to balance her market basket with a mix of fresh and frozen produce. “It’s easy to overdo it on the fresh produce and end up throwing out extras,” she says. She buys frozen vegetables like peas, spinach, and corn to use on days when her supplies of fresh produce have run low.
6. Grade your efforts. “Every time you finish a meal, critique it,” Nicholson says. “When a meal works, give it a gold star.” Build a collection of gold-star meals so menu planning takes less time. In only a few weeks, you’ll have a complete collection of time-tested and family-approved meals.
http://www.cookinglight.com/food/everyday-menus/six-steps-successful-menu-planning-00400000039153/
is the act of advanced planning of the menu for different situations such as for a family or a restaurant. It is important to consider the dietary needs of the people one is preparing for. Beginner cooks may find the task too daunting at first, but luckily there are wide range of resources on line to help with the planning process.
Meal planning is the organization of deciding what meals you will be eating ahead of time. It can be a great way to make sure you have healthy meals planned without you having to scramble to make a decision.
What I love about this particular design--
1) It’s weekly. I shop and plan my calendar weekly. I can adjust for company, evenings out, leftovers, etc.
2) Ingredients are listed on the back of the meal cards which measure 1 ½ by 4 ¼ inches. Hello shopping list! Sources such as recipe card, cookbook and page number, or binder are also noted.
3) Using the two pockets (made from 16 count crayon boxes,) I can store all of my meal cards right on the board. With a rotating system, I start with all the cards in the lower box. After we have a particular meal, I place its card into the upper box until we go through the majority of the cards. Then, I start over choosing from all of them again.
4) Clothespins mean no slipping of the laminated meal cards and no pin holes.
5) The base is an 11×14” picture frame, so it’s a cinch to hang. Using two nails keeps the board from tilting under its lopsided weight.
A one week sample of what I am currently serving along with a few favorite recipes. However, I want to share what I think will be even more valuable—not what I serve, but how I go about planning it. The key is themes! Assigning a different theme to each day of the week helpfully narrows your focus as you plan. It also ensures that you have a nice variety of foods without similar repeats during the week. A different color of card stock for each theme’s meal cards makes choosing meals for the week even easier. The key to having themes that will work for you is to choose themes that go along with what your family already eats on a regular basis. I suggest brainstorming and writing down all the meals you regularly serve (or even keep track for a month as you go.) Then, look at your list and see what types of themes are already represented. Eat a lot of fish? (Me neither, ha.) If you do, you could have “Seafood Night” or “Under the Sea.” Do you have several pasta dishes? “Pasta Night” or “Mambo Italiano” might work well. Love to try new recipes? Assign a day to do that. The recipes that you try and love can be added to the rotation of another night. Do you typically have leftovers? Make it a theme. Some people plan by what type of meat they serve– chicken, beef, pork. It can be that simple. The important thing is to choose themes that will work for you and your family. After you identify your themes, try to come up with 4-5 different meals per theme. This is going to take time. It is an investment that will eliminate hours of busy work and stress once you get your themes and meals into place.
When you assign your themes to the day of the week, think about your family’s typical schedule. For example, a crock pot meal is perfect for my family on Sundays because I can start it before we leave for church, and we get to come home (starving) to something good to eat. Plan simple, quick things on the nights you know your time to prepare will be limited. Does hubby work late every Tuesday? Make it “Kids Stuff” Tuesday. You get the idea.
What I love about The Ultimate Menu Board is that it is super flexible. Let’s say I notice mid-week that we have plenty of leftovers to feed the family for one day. I can slip the “leftover” card on top of Friday’s meal and just plan on doing the original meal the next week. And it’s not a problem to make a change. I can flip flop nights if I want. Life happens and it always threatened my carefully planned and printed “monthly menu.” No more. Want to add something new to the rotation? Simply make an additional card.
If you still need a little inspiration, perhaps the following examples will help you get started. One Week Meal Plan
Monday- lasagna, garden salad, French bread (wheat)
Tuesday- grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup (or ramen or ravioli)
Wednesday- garlic chicken, roasted zucchini, pineapple and cottage cheese
Thursday- burritos, corn, tortilla chips
Friday- party chicken, baked potatoes, honey mustard salad
Saturday- eat out
Sunday- mushroom and onion pork chops, brown rice, mixed veggies, rolls
Mom’s Lasagna-
Make sauce mixture using 1 lb browned ground beef, 1 can tomato soup, 1 can cheddar cheese soup, 15 oz tomato sauce, 1 T Italian seasoning and 1 tsp onion salt.
In a 9×13 pan, layer boiled noodles (9 in all,) sauce mixture and shredded mozzarella cheese three times.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches-
For an extra special sandwich use sourdough bread, three cheeses (a spread of cream cheese, a slice of American, a slice of provolone,) and slices of tomato and red onion.
Ella’s Honey Mustard Salad-
Combine lettuce, chopped apple, red onion, shredded cheddar cheese, sunflower seeds and bacon bits. Top with your favorite honey mustard dressing.
Happy planning, shopping, cooking and eating!
http://thecreativemama.com/the-end-of-reinventing-the-meal-menu-planning-and-the-ultimate-menu-board/
Effective menu planning is rewarding in terms of time and money, especially given how little effort it takes. Those who do it well seem to have internalized its rules. The good news: The rest of us can learn, too. We asked three food experts to share their menu-planning strategies―from shopping savvy to using ingredients wisely. Here are their tips for success.
1. Resolve to make the effort. As with any goal―losing weight, exercising, or eating healthier―the first step is making a commitment, says Susan Nicholson, who writes the syndicated newspaper column 7 Day Menu Planner. Just decide you’re going to do it. Involve those who eat with you by asking what they do and don’t like to eat―even kids as young as five or six can be included―then factor their preferences into your plans.
2. Pick a planning style to suit your personality. “I love the ‘cook once, eat twice’ strategy,” says Ellie Krieger, RD, host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network and author of The Food You Crave.
“I plan my weekly meals by first deciding what three major proteins I’m going to eat, then I make them do double duty. If I buy a rotisserie chicken, I prepare a salad one night and chicken tacos the next. If I’m making roasted pork loin with veggies on Monday, I may use the leftover for pulled-pork sandwiches Wednesday night.”
Nicholson maps out four weeks of menus on a calendar or grid. For each day, she lists an entrée, sides, and dessert, making sure to mark out days she routinely eats away from home. “Most of us have at least 10 favorite meals. If you’re a beginner, it’s simple to fill in those 10, then repeat them until the grid is full.” When you’re ready, begin adding new recipes or tweak your menu to keep things fresh.
3. Make a shopping list. Keep a generic list on hand that includes things you buy frequently (such as milk, eggs, chicken breasts), then add extras so you don’t have to start from scratch each week, Nicholson says. She puts a shopping-list template on her computer and arranges ingredients in sections corresponding with the layout of her favorite supermarket to make shopping easier.
4. Shop strategically. “Shop on a day that works best for you,” says Toni Lydecker, author of Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You’re on Your Own. Consider your market’s schedule by asking when it receives fresh shipments from vendors. Be flexible with your list, too: If you’re planning to cook asparagus one night but the green beans look better, go with the beans.
5. Cook perishables first. “Cook with perishables like fresh fish or salad greens early in the week,” Lydecker says. “Then later you can rely on staples: a simple omelet or pasta dish.”
Krieger likes to balance her market basket with a mix of fresh and frozen produce. “It’s easy to overdo it on the fresh produce and end up throwing out extras,” she says. She buys frozen vegetables like peas, spinach, and corn to use on days when her supplies of fresh produce have run low.
6. Grade your efforts. “Every time you finish a meal, critique it,” Nicholson says. “When a meal works, give it a gold star.” Build a collection of gold-star meals so menu planning takes less time. In only a few weeks, you’ll have a complete collection of time-tested and family-approved meals.
http://www.cookinglight.com/food/everyday-menus/six-steps-successful-menu-planning-00400000039153/